How to find out you're not in good shape, aka Try Yoga

I have been trying to get into a routine that includes a day or two of yoga a week for a year or so now. I've done it here and there, but not at all consistently. This past week I saw a post by a friend on Facebook that was a small list of her goals for the month of September and #1 was to do yoga twice. It made me realize that instead of feeling overwhelmed by the idea of doing yoga 2x a week, I could set a small, attainable goal like that and actually have a chance to achieve it. I did just that and I've already done it twice in 4 days!
I took a small yoga "awakening" class on Friday morning at the gym at 8am. I like the classes at my gym because they're not crowded and I had plenty of personal space. The teacher was cool and casual about things, which I prefer over a very serious, new-agey class. I am just getting into this and I'm really tight and uncoordinated so I need to be able to laugh at myself when I topple over. The class was an hour and 15 mins and it was really tough! I had done a new core and upper body workout the night before in the park, so I was a little sore to begin with. By Saturday morning I was really sore, but I felt great! I had accomplished what I really wanted to and it was nice to feel sore from working hard at something new. I swam after yoga to help loosen my arms, shoulders and back and it was really tough at first but I finally found a rhythm. I think it ultimately helped shorten my recovery time because by Sunday morning I was feeling good again. The best news is that it didn't hurt my ankle too much so I have the green light from my PT to keep going with it.
I did learn some things though during that 75 mins of sweating and grunting: my old knee injury is still there, just quieter, I am so, so tight in my hips, my quads are weak, and I need to focus on activating my deep abdominals throughout the day to retrain them because they're half asleep.
There's nothing quite like trying something "new" to keep you honest.
I did two different yoga videos (sunrise and core) this morning before work while the sun was rising red outside my windows. It took a few minutes to shake off sleep, but then I felt great. If I can't get out and run, this is the next best way to wake up.

posted from Bloggeroid

A good week

Labor Day weekend always comes too soon, but the one good thing about getting back to work is getting back to my routine. While I was able to get in several good bike rides and swims each week of my vacation, I truly am a creature of habit and I like my weekly routine. This week also reminded me just how much physical activity my job requires. Whew, I'm beat! I woke up this morning with a sore ankle and realized that it wasn't from my swim yesterday morning or my balance activities last night, but from a full day of work. I spend my day from 9-4:30 doing lots of lifting, chasing, kneeling and getting down to and up from the floor, sometimes with a kid in my arms. No wonder my ankle was sore! The 2000 yds in the pool before work were just a warmup for the rest of the day!
I did manage to have a great workout week and lose a few of the lbs I brought home from our holidays in August. I had a fun 17.5 miles on the bike Monday morning, a good workout at PT on Tuesday, a solid and speedy 2000 yd swim on Wednesday morning and I just left the gym after a very sweaty elliptical and bike workout! It hit me sometime today that maybe I should try the elliptical for some variety in my cardio routine so I emailed my PT and he said it was a great idea. I rarely go to the gym for that kind of workout because I'd rather run or bike outside or swim, so today was kind of fun. I sweat all over the elliptical for 20 mins or so before making a quick transition to the stationary bike for another 20. I was drenched from head to toe as if I'd been doing Bikram. The man on the bike next to me actually blurted out, "wow, you sweat a LOT." Haha. I'd almost forgotten how great it feels to sweat like that, you don't get that same sensation from swimming (obviously) or from biking, because of the wind. I'm heading home tonight to meet up with the rest of the injured list from the Inwood Hill crew for a little something we like to call "CORE-ture." I'm also looking forward to my first Friday morning off of the school year because I am going to hit the gym for a yoga class and a swim before PT and work. I have been trying to get to yoga for months, but I just can't seem to get there so I'm really looking forward to it. I NEED to regain some flexibility and balance in my muscles, I can tell that one side is stronger than the other around my hips and pelvis. Hopefully this class is good, otherwise I'm going to need to find another class that is also at a convenient time either at my gym or elsewhere. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to move on Saturday morning, but hopefully swimming after yoga will help ease some of the DOMS headed my way.
How was your Labor Day week?

posted from Bloggeroid

The 83rd Annual Pageant Swim

This past Friday morning I woke up a bit late and was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Not being able to run is really starting to get to me. I wanted to just roll out of bed and get in a quick run before going to the beach, but no, I couldn't. Instead I had some coffee and sort of just slumped around a bit, thinking that I'd like to go for a bike ride but didn't have enough time. At some point my Mom yelled from the front door that she'd be back in an hour (what?! I had just put on my bathing suit for the beach!) so I took a look in the mirror and said "that's an hour on the bike- GO!" So I did, I got in a 40 minute ride or so and felt much better for doing so. It was no run, but it helped me feel a little more productive before lounging on the beach for the rest of the day. I can't even walk on the beach with Mom because last time I did my ankle swelled up and was sore. Lame.
Anyhow, sometime during my moping and whining that morning, I got a tweet from a fellow NJ ocean swimmer and Chesapeake Bay swimmer, Sarah (@rosemarymint) suggesting that I come down to Atlantic City on Saturday morning for a 1.5 mi ocean swim. I thought about it and instantly knew that it was exactly what I needed to snap me out of my funk. I somehow convinced my Mom and husband that it would be a fun day trip and we all piled into the car Saturday morning for the ~1hr drive down to AC.

When I got to the beach on Saturday the ocean looked lovely and gentle, like it was just waiting for us to get in and kick some butt. I was excited and nervous about the swim, so I wasn't thinking about the tide or the current much at all, but in hindsight I should have known that the tide was coming in quickly. I met up with Sarah and another friend of her's before the swim and we chatted and laughed until they finally blew the horn. We were to swim way out from the shore, far enough to clear the Steel Pier just to our south, and then continue on south parallel to the shoreline until we passed 2 other piers (one small, one very large) and turn right to swim back to shore. I was cautious during this swim to really give myself plenty of room to clear the piers because the waves had already doubled in size and let's face it, no one wants to get washed under the Pier in the surf. I probably swam closer to 1.75-2.0 miles because of that, but I didn't care because I'd been warned about the underwater pilings at the 3rd pier and definitely wanted nothing to do with those.

The actual race was pretty wild and really, really fun. The current was pulling us south from the minute we touched the water so I was really grateful for that. As I swam out from the shore I could see the Steel Pier on my right and the vast sea on my left, I stayed pretty far north for a while because the current was so strong, but I probably didn't need to be that far away from the pier.

Better safe than seagull food. When I reached the end of the pier I had allowed myself to drift closer to it and I simply turned my body to swim parallell to the shore for the main part of the swim. It was BEAUTIFUL swimming out there, the towering, glittering casinos along the shore were shining bright in the morning sun and the water temp was perfect. I was happily churning along, mostly alone but occasionally I'd encounter another swimmer and make it my mission to pass him. The waves were pushing me all over the place, up and down and side to side, but I just kept on moving. A few waves started out so far that as they rolled over me I was worried that I was in too close to shore, but I was way out there and the waves were just getting bigger. At some point I passed one of the lifeguard rescue boats that was trying to stay straight in the surf but nearly (or did) whack a swimmer with his oar. They were trying to keep us from swimming too close to shore, but their intention wasn't entirely clear to us in the water. It was hard to see and nearly impossible to hear, so I just tried to steer clear and stay out as far as I felt I needed to. It was really fun seeing the casinos and the boardwalk every time I took a breath on the right side, but less fun getting clobbered in the face by a wave every couple of breaths on the left. Oh well, I was having a blast. Someone asked me after the race if I ever get nervous or panic in the ocean, and thinking about being out there far from shore in the rolling waves makes me anything but nervous. There's a sort of peace and calm out there surrounded by the sea. That said, I'm well aware of the dangers of the ocean and don't recommend that inexperienced swimmers go out in search of what I'm talking about here. Respecting the power of the ocean is of the utmost importance whether you're floating in the waves lapping at the shore or if you're half a mile out.

As I approached the last pier, a looming glass structure, I was passing a few more guys but I seemed to be swimming stroke for stroke with a woman in a pink cap and suit. Despite my very wide turn around the pier, I found myself right next to her again on the way in to shore, both of us swimming hard to get to the beach. I had the good sense to take a glance behind me with every other breath to look for oncoming waves to ride in and I caught a sweet ride. I bodysurfed a great wave from halfway out to the point where I could stand up and gained a lot of ground. I always forget how painful it is to stand up after a long swim and I winced a bit as I tried to run up the shore. I know I'm not supposed to run on my sore ankle, but I had to run through the finish line! I looked back and saw that I'd put about 3 guys between myself and the other woman in the pink cap. Victory! I crossed the line with a smile on my face, seaweed in my suit and tucked in my watch, and a tingly tongue from the salt water. Just like everyone else who crossed the line, I had a "sea beard" from the sand and sea water gunk. Thanks Mom for wiping it off for me.

I crossed the finish line in 42:30 ish (results aren't up yet) which was 89th place out of ~185 swimmers. I was 5th out of 8 in my age group. I was really happy with the results, especially given that the waves ended up being 6ft high and very choppy. Sarah's friend Hillary put it best when she said "Now I know how my clothes feel in the washing machine!" Ha! Sure we got tossed around, but I remember at some point actually thanking the ocean for giving us such an awesome day with a current and tailwind in our favor, despite the big waves.

It turns out I was right, that swim was a nice kick in the butt for me. I was really sore and tired the next day, a type of exhaustion that I haven't felt since I had to stop running. I'm really motivated by this swim to start looking for a swim in the early spring (someplace warm) so that I have something to train for over the winter.

Finish photos coming soon...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

August in a Nutshell

Like many of my other running blogger friends I haven't taken the time to post much this summer, but since the hurricane is raging outside and I don't have much else to do today I thought I'd catch up on blogging. The last time I posted was right after I'd gotten my MRI results for my ankle sprain which threw a wrench into my plans for the NYC Triathlon and any other races I'd hoped to do this month and probably through September. Plans for my Half Ironman in October are completely up in the air at this point so I won't even talk about them for now.
Despite my inability to run for the last (almost) 5 weeks, I have been keeping very active and I'm still pretty sane. When the summer session at work ended on Aug 12th my husband and I took off for the beautiful waters of the 1000 Islands in Ontario, Canada where we spent a really great week with family and friends. I invited my good friend and swim buddy, Sally, to come up for the weekend and enjoy the islands with us. We had a beautiful weekend with calm water and bright sunshine so she and I were able to get in two truly gorgeous long swims from our Canadian island over to the US side of the St. Lawrence river. On Saturday we thought we'd swum far enough to cross the border, but we spotted a map that evening that suggested that we'd turned around too soon and had not actually hit US water. Oops. We set back out again early Sunday morning with the GPS and made sure that we swam to the border and over before turning back. On Saturday we'd only gone about 0.86mi before turning around, but on Sunday we hit 1.2mi before swimming back. After a long hiatus from the water due to awful wisdom teeth complications, it was tough hop in and swim that far, but I was so happy to be out in that crystal clear blue water. At one point during the swim back to Canada on Saturday I stopped swimming, popped my head up and just said something about how happy I was feeling. I had my sweet hubby paddling his kayak alongside on my right and one of my favorite people swimming right next to me on the left. Sally's boyfriend was also paddling on the other side of us to keep us safe from passing boats. Those swims were so wonderful, I finally began to feel normal again after the really painful ordeal with my teeth. I was still in pain for most of the week away, but it was tolerable with some Tylenol and ice.
My goal for the 9 day vacation was to get in two bike rides, but I only managed one between swimming and some laziness. I did have one really nice 22 mile ride along the 1000 Islands Parkway bike path while we were in Canada with a few little rolling hills. It was a nice change of scenery and I actually enjoyed the ride, but I still wasn't that motivated to get in the saddle again because my butt was sore for a few days. I may need a new seat..ouch.
After we left Canada we headed down into the Adirondacks to finish out our vacation at Sally's house. The weather and a late-sleeping husband thwarted my plans for a Friday morning swim and an afternoon canoe/hike, but we did manage to get in some canoeing on Putnam Pond between thunderstorms, which was entertaining. Sally and Chuck weren't home until Friday night, but Saturday was a fun, outdoorsy day with some more great swimming in a secret, crystal clear pond surrounded by untamed woods. Sally and I swam the length of the pond, about a mile, while Dave and Chuck bushwhacked around to meet us at the other side for lunch on a big ol' rock. After lunch we sat around and enjoyed the sunshine and peace & quiet before hopping back into the cool water to swim back. We beat the guys back to the other shore and had to hike around in our speedos and sneakers until they arrived with our clothes. Other than being eaten alive by mosquitoes (one bit the center of my forehead!) we had the perfect day. I couldn't get enough of those long open water swims, hopefully I still have a few weeks of open water swimming ahead before the water gets too cold and summer melts away.
Upon returning home to NYC for a day or two, I decided that I really needed to get on the bike more often if I'm going to maintain some leg strength while not running. Now I know that you use muscles in a different way when biking vs running, but cycling is still a great way to keep up leg strength when you're banned from running. I was extremely proud of myself this past week for getting in two rides in two days. Wednesday morning I met up at 5:30 am with a tri group in Point Pleasant, NJ for a long ride up the NJ coast to Asbury Park and back. It was really nice for motivation to link up with some other folks for a ride because I was having a really hard time getting out the door with the bike. It always seems like such a production at home to lug my bike down the stairs and get to a safe place for riding when I'm in the city, so I was really grateful for the group ride in an easy, safe location. We got in about 27 miles that morning and I actually enjoyed every minute of it. The next morning I pushed myself to get out the door and just go for a ride right outside Mom's front door. I told myself I'd shoot for a short 10-12 mile ride just to get it done, but I ended up riding 17 miles around the area and really having a nice time exploring the farther reaches of the neighborhood. The only reason I turned back towards Mom's house was because I hadn't packed enough water and snacks and I was getting really hungry and my butt was killing me from the long ride the day before. I did some of my ride around this beautiful Ocean County Memorial Park, which is dedicated to the soldiers from OC who died during various wars. It is a really quiet and peaceful place so I rode slowly and took in the view because I wanted to be respectful of the few folks that were standing near the plaques of their loved ones in small huddles. I snapped these few photos before I left the park:









In ankle news, I'm finally starting to notice some progress! I went to PT three times this week and spent the rest of the week doing work on my own to keep my foot and lower leg loose and I had my first pain-free swim on Friday afternoon! I was so thrilled, it has been 9 weeks since my injury and I was so happy to be able to push off of the wall with both feet, kick hard for a boost and just enjoy my swim. It has been way too long since I felt completely normal in the water. I didn't have to worry about injuring the fragile wounds in my mouth from breathing out too hard, or injuring the newly formed fibers in my ankle ligament, it was so freeing.
For now I'm hiding away from the hurricane in the Poconos with the intelligent and amusing Pigtails Flying and Races Like a Girl. Hurricane Irene has toyed with my plans for a long bike ride up here, but there's nothing I can do about it so I'm just going to relax and watch the trees blow outside the window with my ankle wrapped in ice. I'm making progress towards healing and that is something I'll raise my glass to. Cheers.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

What a week.

It has been a rough week! The past 8 days felt more like 3 weeks between a million doctor/dentist appointments and lots of pain. I'll give you the short version because I'm sick of the full version from living it. Last Thursday evening I had my 3 wisdom teeth extracted, all were impacted and one was extra complicated. I ended up with something called Dry Socket which means that it isn't healing properly and there is exposed bone in my jaw. To sum it up, it fucking hurt. It is okay now after 3 days in a row of visits to the oral surgeon for quick treatments. Apparently this is really common because tons of people have told me that they also had it. It felt like the worst thing ever a few days ago, but now everything just tastes like cloves from the medicine in my socket. It'll be fine in a few more days. Whew.
In the middle of that mess, I had an appointment with an Orthopedic Dr to check out this nagging ankle injury that I got 6 weeks ago. It happened with a traumatic blow to the ankle during my first (and last) soccer game of the season. A girl twice my size kicked me on the lateral side of my foot while my foot was in the air. I scored a goal that game, for the record. The doc insisted on an MRI and Xray, but I thought that was excessive. Keep in mind that I was still on heavy painkillers from the teeth and had forgotten how much my ankle had been hurting. The imaging was Wednesday and my wonderful Dr emailed me the entire report to read today. He knows I'm a PT. Here's the exact wording:

1. High grade partial tear of the Anterior Talofibular ligament without retraction. (ATFL=ligament on the outside of your ankle, mine is halfway off of the bone)
2. Contusions versus reactive edema of the posterior, medial and lateral talar dome without a fracture or osteochondral lesion. (oh my poor Talus- a bone, is really beat up. It's a major component of the ankle joint)
3. Large tibiotalar joint effusion. (aka fat ankle)
4. Possible reactive edema versus Contusions of the lateral malleolus ( what most people think of as their ankle bone). Mild Peroneus brevis and longus tendinitis. (those are the tendons attached to the muscles that move your foot outward)

So, what now? This week I go see an ankle surgeon who will set me up with some sort of brace to keep the ligament in place so that it can heal itself. I'll wear it for several weeks. If it doesn't help, I'll have to get it surgically repaired, but it should work. Then I'll have weeks or months of PT to retrain my ankle to work properly because the ankle plays a major role in balance and it's going to get lazy in that brace. I actually really appreciate having all of this knowledge in my head, it makes the whole thing manageable. Of course it sucks that I'm out of the NYC Triathlon this weekend and possibly (probably) out of my Half Ironman this Oct, but I always knew I was risking injury by playing soccer and I didn't care because I love it. Don't we all risk injury when we train for our marathons, trail races, triathlons, swims, etc? Someone remind me of this in a few weeks when I'm cranky: It is only an ankle injury, you're still a healthy, strong athlete with wonderful friends and family and there will be many more races in the future.
I'll know more after I see the surgeon, but for now I'm thinking that I'll have lots of time in the next few weeks to work on strength, core and everywhere else. I need that anyway,hopefully I'll be ripped come Fall.
I wonder if I should tell the Doctor that I won two Age Group awards on this ankle? Hmm, maybe it's best for my karma not to be boastful.

posted from Bloggeroid

New Jersey State Triathlon

This past weekend was the NJ State Sprint Tri in Mercer County Park, also my first race of the season. It was a busy, whirlwind weekend that started on Thursday night with a heat wave 5K in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.
All summer long I've been taking part in the Van Cortlandt Track Club summer series, but I've missed the last two due to my ankle injury (I got kicked by a big girl in a soccer game and may have sprained it) so I was really happy to be back. I went into the race with absolutely no expectations because of the heat (it was 100 degrees out) and I knew I should save my legs for the upcoming tri on Saturday, not to mention that I've not been running much in order to heal my ankle. I took it pretty easy because of the heat, or so I thought. I really held back on the final stretch, even letting some goofy looking guys pass me close to the finish. That is NOT my style, but I needed fresh legs for Sat. In the end though, the field was small-ish and I walked away with another carrot muffin for placing 2nd in my age group! It was my worst time ever in that race, somewhere close to 24:00. I was really happy to have the muffin though, I was starving! If you haven't yet checked out the VCTC 5K Summer Series, I suggest you get up there one of these Thursday nights. The next one is in 2 weeks.
So after a late night drive to Jersey to stay with my Mom on Thursday night, I caught up on some sleep and just tried to stay cool in the A/C. Friday I spent some time playing with my nieces, but I mostly tried to hydrate and keep cool and rest up for the morning. Friday night I spent with a good friend that I grew up with but haven't seen in TEN years! We met at Marcer County Park in the heat of the evening for packet pickup and to check out the course. This was going to be Mandy's first tri and she was understandably nervous about the whole process. I was really glad that I could be there for her first tri and help her with all of the little details like someone did for me last year. Looking out at the swim course I was able to see the open water through her eyes, the eyes of a new open water swimmer and it helped me really appreciate how lucky I am to be part fish. :) Mandy introduced me to some really cool folks at the Ryan's Quest tent, RQ being the charity that she and I were racing for, some of them had even read my blog! How cool is that? Ryan is a little boy with Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy who I actually met the following day, he was precious and completely worth the sweat and hard work. I highly recommend you consider checking out and donating to this really wonderful charity, you can find them here: Http://www.RyansQuest.org
We spent the evening catching up and preparing for the race and before I knew it, it was time for bed. Of course neither of us slept very well because of the pre-race excitement/nerves and I was still sleepy when the alarm went off at 4:45. It was already 86 degrees out when I strapped my bike to the car rack at 5:15am. Holy crap.
The ride to the park was quick and easy and we had a beautiful but ominous bright red sunrise, it was going to be a killer day. Transition setup was smooth with the exception of me setting my stuff up on the wrong rack at first, the numbers changed right near mine (#675) and I had to move all of my stuff across the aisle and away from Mandy. I remembered to take a step back, take a breath and make sure everything was there and in order.

The Race
Before the swim start we watched a few waves go ahead and I was able to "cool off" in the lake before our wave. It was nice that they let folks take a practice swim while the other waves were starting and I really should have taken a few strokes to loosen up rather than simply wading in the muck. The swim start was a floating one so we waded and then swam out to two blue buoys and treaded water for about 3 minutes. I decided at some point the previous night that I was going to try to have a really good race, so I swam right up to the front row where it was not crowded and I knew I wouldn't be behind any slower swimmers. I took off at the horn, pushing the pace right from the start because I knew I'd be in the water for less than 10 minutes. Immediately I regretted doing that 5K on Thursday, my quads were burning, but I didn't have time to think about that, I wanted to get OUT of that hot, nasty lake as quickly as possible. The one million buoys along the course helped me to stay straight, but as usual I got tangled up with at least 5 swimmers from previous waves along the way. I am not an aggressive swimmer, I don't kick or claw at anyone on purpose, so I do thing some of the "sideways swimmers" slowed me down as I had to try to avoid them. Oh well, I was out before I knew it. 9:46 was my time. Room for improvement.

The first transition went quickly, though I think it took me around 3 minutes (what was I doing?!) but I did have the sense to take a hit of my inhaler. The air was thick and the warm water had left me gasping for air a bit. I grabbed my bike and ran for the road. Why were so many people walking? Don't they know it's a race? Anyway, the bike was really nice, I enjoyed the mostly flat, fast course. Several people got 2:00 penalties on the bike course for drafting and I'm glad too because I saw plenty of it. I think penalties were also given for riding on the left when not passing which I saw as a big problem during the ride. It was all of those Jersey drivers who think the left lane is for driving, not just for passing. ;) I was going back and forth with two other women in my age group for much of the ride, but I managed to blow by them on the last 0.5 mi when a ton of people just seemed to slow down and enjoy the view. I didn't understand that, so I just took off towards the transition area at full speed and I didn't see them again until the run when they were on their way out and I was on my way in. I'm always grateful that the run is last. The bike was 36:54 for the 11.5 or 12 miles.

T2 was much quicker than T1, I just changed my shoes, slipped on my visor and took off at full speed. Again, a ton of people were walking at the start of the run. Someone should tell them that the time you spend in transition counts towards their total time! I'm such a competitive jerk. ;)
The run was HOT. There is no other way to describe how I felt during those 3 miles trotting along the path towards the turnaround. While it was my best event of the race (I came in 130 out of about 1300+ people) it was my least favorite part. I never enjoy an out-and-back course because of the mental aspects of running over the same ground twice. I ran along pretty quickly at the start to loosen up my legs post-ride, happy to pass some folks I couldn't catch on the bike and get right into a quick pace. I didn't look at the pace on my watch until I felt like I was at a comfortable pace, even though it felt slow. That's the bizarre thing about running after the swim and bike, your legs feel so weird that they can't quite sense the pace normally, I thought I was just under 8:00/mile when I was actually at 7:22. I kept doing mental systems checks to make sure the heat wasn't getting to me, Am I breathing okay? No, but it is tolerable and just from the humidity. Am I dizzy or lightheaded? No. Am I still sweating? Profusely. Ok good. I noticed as I reached the turnaround point that people on the returning side were wearing little white towels on their heads or necks and I nearly leapt with joy, They were giving out cold towels at the halfway point! I happily frolicked through the giant firehouse at the halfway point, sloshing through the 3 inches of water, and grabbed my cold towel. Woo, did that feel good on my head, face and neck. I may have gotten a little too excited about the towel because I slowed down without realizing and had to pick the pace back up for the second half. I was having fun. I sipped water at each water station, pouring the rest over my head and running on. Lots of people were walking and I managed to pass everyone I encountered along the way. That's always my favorite part of a tri. My time was 23:52, or a 7:42 pace. I'm happy with that in the heat.

Overall I finished in 1:15:38, good enough for an astonishing 3rd place in my age group. I was completely floored when I saw my name in bold on the results sheet that was posted. I had been having this conversation in my head on the walk over to see the results that went a like this:
"I can't wait to see how I did, but there's no way I placed in anything."
"But what if I did?"
"No, there's simply no way so stop even thinking about it, you'll only be disappointed."
"Obviously. I'm embarrassed for even thinking it, I'm so cocky."

But there it was: 3rd place Females 25-29. I was so surprised and thrilled that I nearly cried. That's 3rd place out of 103!
Overall I was 186 out of 1362. I still can't believe that.
I was 33rd female out of 626.

The best part of the whole day wasn't getting my award though, it was definitely giving Mandy a big hug after she completed her first triathlon!!! Congrats girl, you did it! It takes a lot of guts and hard work to get into the open water and tackle it like you did, I know a LOT of people who are too scared to do what you did. The best part of doing your first tri is that it is a guaranteed Personal best and it is always a learning experience. I had a ton of fun being a part of someone else's first race and hopefully in the future she'll be the one passing on the little tips about how to put on the timing chip, how to put on a swim cap and where to put that race bib with two numbers on it. :)
MANY thanks to the Ryan's Quest crew for hooking me up with post-race beverages and a shady place to sit and recover. I hope to join you guys again in the future for another race.
Thanks to Mandy and her friends, I have a handful of photos from the race, but this post is really long already so I'll save them for another post. I have to include this one though:



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tri training is in full force

I have been keeping myself occupied away from the phone and computer lately with plenty of training, but with the heat wave in full force outside I thought I'd catch up on my blog. I finally got back on the bike at the end of June after a long hiatus and I'm actually happy to be back on it. The bike is not my favorite part of the triathlon, I'd be happy doing swim/run races forever, but the bike is there so I'd better get going on it. I am TRYING to get into a routine where I bike to work or just get out and ride at least once a week, so we'll see how that goes.

I got an early start on the weekend last week and hit the road with my bike strapped to the trunk of my car on Thursday night as I headed for the Jersey beaches. I always panic a bit for the first few minutes while driving with the bike on my car rack, but since the George Washington Bridge was the first part of my drive I was extra nervous. I made it down to Mom's without any problems after an hour or so of "omg my bike looks like it is coming loose!" which were all unfounded. I tried to make it an early night, but I didn't even arrive at Mom's until around 10 or 10:30 which sucked because I had to get up at 5 to swim.

Thursday afternoon I spent some time searching online for a swim club or tri team to join for their morning ocean swim and I stumbled upon the Jersey Shore Tri club. Someone from the group kindly emailed me back and let me know they'd be swimming in Bay Head at 6am. Perfect! I joined the group bright and early with a stunning view of the sun rising out of the sea a fiery magenta. It was gorgeous, I miss swimming in the ocean and any other open water during the week so it was great to hit the open sea. As frequently happens, I was the only swimmer out of the 8 or 9 of us there who was swimming in traditional swimsuit, everyone else was pulling on those horrid, sweaty wetsuits. People always have excuses too about why they need them, "I'm getting old" (bullshit) or "I need the buoyancy" (also bullshit, we're in the ocean) but no one in this group was like that, so I respected them for that. I still wish people would practice in traditional suits so they they could improve as a real swimmer and if they still felt the need to cheat in a race, then so be it. I digress.

The swim itself wasn't as beautiful as the sunrise had promised thanks to swarms of slimy, gooey salp which surrounded me, tried to get in my mouth and probably are growing families deep in my ear canals. Salp is a tiny planktonic tunicate, in other words it is a gooey sac-like filter feeder that eats phytoplankton. They look like this and travel in packs of like a billion:

Imagine fishing thousands of these out of your suit and hair.

The salp are supposed to hang out near Antarctica, but they appear to be lost and are hanging off of the east coast in the very warm water. People often mistake them for "jellyfish eggs" or "fish eggs". If you've ever seen caviar you'd know that they are not fish eggs, but from experience I can tell you that they taste about the same. Eww.

The group and I swam about 1.5 miles or so, swimming north a few jetties and then back to our starting point where we decided to keep going because the water was a nice ~73 or so and everyone felt fine. I liked this group. I don't regret doing the extra half a mile or so, but man was that the worst part of the entire morning. The clumps of salp were so thick that I had to put my head down and swim as hard and far as I could before taking a breath. I did not want to swallow any of those buggers. Yuck. Imagine yourself swimming in a pool full of chopped up gummy bears with little stringy bits between them. I made a vow right then and there to never complain about the weeds in the St Lawrence River again.

After the swim I changed into my bike gear (I always feel like a goober, how come some people look so COOL on a bike?) and headed out for a 30 mile ride. I picked 30 because it was my target distance a week or so before, but I only had time for 25. I'm not following any particular training plan right now, so I just hopped on and headed south. The shoulders along Rt 35 in Bay Head, Mantoloking and beyond could use a little smoothing, my hands and butt could attest to that for a few days post-ride. I enjoyed my ride for the most part though, and was happy for the nice weather and fairly light traffic since it was still really early in the day. I rode south through Lavallette and Seaside Park and Heights until I finally hit Island Beach State Park at the southern tip of the island. It is a great place to ride and I saw several other cyclists out, but I wasn't going the full 10 miles in and back out today. I hit the 15 mile mark, had a snack and turned around, I was really happy to finally have the wind at my back. I was able to kick it up and head back to the car much faster than the way down because the wind was pretty strong. Boy, I hope I don't have a headwind for my half ironman, that'd be a bitch. I managed to make it most of the way back before hitting a nasty pothole with 4 miles to go. Ouch, the thump reverberated in my hands for the final few miles. *mental note: get new cycling gloves* I finished 30 miles in 2:01:13 and I'm happy with that. I have no real concept of a great cycling time, but I felt good and I felt like I put in a good effort. I think at this point in my training I just need to rack up some time in the saddle. I should probably bring my bike Upstate with me this weekend to get in a few hills.

It was shortly after I posted my swim and ride on Facebook that I realized "Wow, I'm tri training!" I have three triathlons on the horizon, two of which are coming up pretty quickly! TheNJ State (sprint) Tri is on the 23rd, the day after what would have been my Nan's 88th birthday and I'm doing it with a friend that I've known since childhood. I'm really looking forward to racing again! The NYC triathlon (Olympic) is on August 7th, less than a month away! I also have the Pocono Mountain 70.3 in October, but lets not talk about that just yet. Yikes.

Tomorrow I plan on biking to work for the first time and I'm excited about it, but a little nervous about the logistics and forgetting something important like underwear. I'll be sure to post about my adventures soon.